Improvement in boots and shoes



I. N. MUDGETT. Boots and Shoes.

No. 216,100. Patnted June 3, I879.

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N4 FUERS, PHOTOLITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON 0 C UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ISAAC N. MUDGETT, OF CHELSEA, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN BOOTS AND SHOES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 2] 6,100, dated June 3,1879; application filed April 12, 1879.

To all whom it mag concern:

Be it known that I, ISAAC N. MUDGETT, of Chelsea, in the county ofMiddlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvementsin Boots and Shoes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to boots and shoes which are provided with sideor front openings, and are secured to the foot by detachable fastenings,closing said openings, button and laced boots being types of this class.

The object of this invention is to provide certain improvements wherebythe portion of the boot or shoe which is secured around the foot andankle is rendered elastic and the strain on the fastenin gs is relieved.

My invention consists in providing a shoe or boot which opens from thetop entirely to the sole with a strip bearing the button-holes or othermeans of fastening, which is permanently'attached to the shoe only bymeans of 7 an elastic gore.

Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,Figure 1 represents a side View of a side-button boot embodying myinvention. Fig. 2 represents the fastenin g-strip and the elastic goring detached from the boot.

Similar letters of reference refer to like parts in all the figures.

In the drawings my invention is illustrated in connection with aside-button boot, the in .vention being perhaps best adapted to thisform of boot.

A represents the boot, which is similar in its general construction tothose already in use, excepting in certain particulars hereinafterspecified. The boot has the usual side opening, extending, in thepresent case, from the top of the leg to the sole. One edge of thisopening is composed ofa strip, a, which I call the fastening-strip. Thisis preferablyot' the same material as the body of the shoe, and isprovided with buttonholes h to engage buttons 1), attached to the shoe011 the opposite side of the opening; or, if desired, the strip a may beprovided with eyelet-holes, or with studs, or any suitable means wherebyit may be detachably connected to the boot at the opposite side of theopening.

The strip a, instead of being directly attached to the portion of theboot which is on the same side of the opening with said strip, isattached only through the medium.. of an elastic goring, g, which issewed at one edge to the inner side of the strip a and between thelatter and its lining, and is sewed at its other edge to the inner sideof the forward portion, 1), of the boot adjoining the strip a, andconstitutes the only connection between said parts.

The adjacent edges of the strip a and portion 12 fit snugly against eachother, and the goring holds said edges in contact, so that they coverand conceal the goring excepting when they are separated by a strain onthe goring.

It will be seen that by the employment of the goring I am enabled torelieve the strain or dead pull on the buttons or other fastenings ofthe boot which results from the movements of the foot and ankle inwalking, and from other causes. Consequently the buttons or otherfastenings are rendered more dura ble, and the boot is rendered mucheasier to the foot.

The goring, being concealed, does not alter the appearance of the boot,the latter being hardly distinguishable from an ordinary button-boot.

This improvement may also be applied to boots that are buttoned 0r lacedin front, and to low shoes as well as boots. without departing from thespirit of my invention. If desired, a wider gore may be employed, whichwould not be concealed by the parts it connects; but as this wouldsomewhat disfigurc the shoe I prefer to conceal the gore, as described.

I claini as my invention- In a boot or shoe having a side openingextending down to the sole, the combination, with the vamp andbutton-hole flap or strip, of a concealed elastic goring, whereby thevamp and button-hole strip are permanently united, all substantially asshown and described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

ISAAC N. MUDGETT.

Witnesses:

ELLEN H. MUDGETT, O. F. BROWN.

